Tertiary Education in Mining Engineering: History, Current Status and Prospects

摘要

This paper is an overview of the international condition of tertiary education in mining engineering. The evolution and philosophy of engineering education in the comprehensive universities is described briefly. Mining engineering education since the mid-19th Century is shown to have split into two streams, one in Schools of Mines and the other in engineering faculties in the comprehensive universities. It is observed that the only strong contemporary mining programs arc provided in the comprehensive universities. The recent and probable further decline in mining programs in the European Union (EU) and the United States of America (USA) is discussed in relation to global trends in the mining industry. The leading Australian mining programs arc shown to be more than competitive in graduation rates with their peer programs in North America and the European Union. The European Mining Course, a co-ordinated program involving four EU mining departments, is presented as a model of some interest in the Australian setting. The Australian mining industry's greater reliance for graduates on Australian mining educational programs will require deliberate effort on the part of the industry in support of local mining departments. Opportunities for co-operative efforts with the leading mining programs in Europe and North America and in the emerging Latin American countries are considered.